Wandering Moon, Smoldering Ember
by ArcherofDarkness and Callie
Summary: Yue's back. The Spirits have sent her back to the mortal world in order to make the Avatar's job a little bit easier, but her journey proves more difficult than expected, especially when she runs into a certain banished prince. Currently being Revamped!
1. Yue's Descent

Okay people…I dunno, I think is about the first ever (at least that I've seen) Zuko/Yue. Should it be Zue or Yuko?

* * *

The Moon Spirit gazed over her dominion, sitting on her opalescent and pearl inlaid, ivory throne. Beside her sat the Ocean Spirit, his form muscular with a blue, silken robe that draped over his body. His seat was made of a pale coral that curved and arched to fit his structure.

Between them both on a silver stool, a young girl sat, her flowing white hair curling in cascades that fell down her back, she was the only one in the room without a formal throne, the only one who was not one of the original nine spirits.

Eight elegant chairs circled the room, forming a semi-circle of Elemental Spirits: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. The only one missing was the ever-elusive Comet Spirit, whose presence brought certain change in the mortal and Spirit worlds.

But today, he was not the object of the Spirits' attention, it was the young girl.

"I call to your attention, the Moon Goddess, Yue," the Moon Spirit called out to her fellows, "She saved the balance of all things by giving her mortal life for mine, for I saved hers as a babe." The Spirits nodded at her presence. "But as the mortal war grows, I fear that it may weigh heavy on the scales and throw the balance off further."

"There is nothing we can do," the Stone Spirit sighed, "As powerful as we are, the mortal world is our soul; we cannot directly alter the future without destroying the balance ourselves, and in turn, our own immortal lives."

The Wind Spirit had become very weak during the human war, and managed only a few words, "But we must try, lest we all become the victims of this atrocious war!"

The Ocean Spirit growled for silence, "The Moon Goddess Yue has agreed to lose her immortality and rejoin the human world, doing our bidding. Her reward will be the knowledge that she has learned here, that she can share it with her human companions, and lead the mortals on so they may grow stronger."

The Spirits nodded to each other, they had but a year before their fellow Spirit arrived and destroyed all of their hard work, taking complete control of the mortal and Spirit worlds.

The Ocean Spirit leaned forwards and kissed Yue's forehead, "We bestow this gift to you Goddess of the Moon. The water is your will, your force to control, and we Spirits will give you the ability to bend it." A strange energy seized the girl's veins, but it was cooling and she didn't move, instead staying in her trance-like state.

The Sun Spirit lifted up his scepter, golden and inlaid with rubies, it sparkled in the light beaming from his amber eyes. "Live long and prosper Yue, Goddess who has given up her throne."

* * *

Yue groaned, picking herself off of the cold ground to stagger to a nearby tree as a resting place; her head hurt, like someone had thrown an ice-ball at her. She remembered a bright flash of light, the kind face of the Ocean Spirit, and then…the cold. She shivered and noticed a path, well trodden and worn; for one moment, she turned her face to the glowing moon in the sky, and then started on the path to her new life.

The night was bitter, but to the past princess of the Northern Water tribe, it was just a normal, cool day. She pulled her heavy cloak about her shoulders, a gift from the Ocean Spirit, it was dark blue with a warm fur inner lining, but still it was not overly elegant.

Not a half-mile from where the Spirits had placed her down, the path came to a shallow stream without a bridge, so Yue lifted her skirts and crossed the stream, ignoring the icy chill on her ankles and pale feet. A rock slipped from underneath her feet and she fell with a splash into the water. It soaked into her clothes and she sighed; then she began to remove the outer layers to dry.

Her boots, which she had been carrying during the time of her fall, had escaped being soaked, so once the heavy overcoat was off, there was nothing else wet enough to remove. She reached up and slung the cloak over the bare branch of a birch.

The night air rustled through the trees and leaves that were beginning to pile up at the trunk bases; it rippled along Yue's cloak and the water slowly began to dissipate, leaving the silken cloth behind. The girl laid back in her less formal dress and stared up at the sky, the moon in particular. She had given up her position as the Moon Goddess, the human figurine for the Moon Spirit, but then again, it had never been something she particularly wanted, like her royal blood. But she no longer had to live that life of formalities and static political engagements, it was as if the world had been flipped upside down, and she had come out on top.

The light of the moon reminded her of another one of her traits: the silver, curling hair that grew from her scalp. If she cut it all off, the new strands would still grow back as pale and as white as the moon. Yue racked her brain trying to remember the formulas that her servants had told her when she had lived in the Northern Water Tribe palace: the soft powder that went above her eyes, the creamy balms for her lips, and the dark kohl that her friends used to put around their eyes.

Then again, some of the noble women would sometimes find strong pigments that were traded from the Earth Kingdom, grind them up, and make pastes that would change the colors of their hair. Yue couldn't help but remember when she had been tricked into using a bottle of dye for robes as her shampoo; the result had been three months of deep blue hair.

No, her hair would have to be dyed and cut, and that would have to be done as soon as possible. Yue's eyelids were heavy, and the gurgle of water was reminding her of home; slowly, she dropped into a world of sleep.

The sun rose, bright pink and orange, throwing light and color into the enormous sky, and below it, Yue sat up for her first sunrise in over three months. She had missed the gentle breezes that began at this time of day. Her cloak was dry; it was time to move on.

It only took her five minutes to pull on her boots and coat, then Yue lifted her feet and began to walk along the river, headed downstream. She had to figure out where she was, and then, put a stop to this war.

* * *

"I can't believe you're human," one of the fishermen remarked, "Blessed by the Spirits this one is!"

Yue smiled shyly and thanked the man, one of the small crowd that had gathered around her since her arrival in the small fishing village. "Where I come from, many have this silver hair."

"Are ye Water Nation?"

"Yes."

"You can stay with us for the night!" A young woman shouted, eager to house a spirit-blessed one in case she brought good luck. "We'll give you a free meal, and can help you find your way home!"

Yue's bright blue eyes lit up at the prospect, "Really? I feel like I haven't eaten in a month…are you sure I wouldn't be a hassle?"

"Not at all!" The woman came forwards and took Yue's bare hand, "Just come with me; my sisters and I will take good care of you." She led the silver-haired girl away and to a small hut and led her inside. A large stew-pot was sitting on the stone hearth, delicious smells and smoke bubbled out.

"I'm not sure what you Water tribes eat, but I can guarantee nothing fills a person up quite like Earth Stew; there's a different recipe for every family." The woman opened the lid and stirred the concoction with a large wooden ladle. "I'm Arelle by the way, and I never got your name…?"

"I'm…" Yue searched for a name, "Tsuki."

"My sisters are Fara and Shan, they're twins so don't even try to tell them apart." Arelle laughed, "But come on! I'll give you something to eat; you couldn't have had much in the past few days." She served Yue a large bowl of the stew, "Eat as much as you want."

"Thank you!" With each bite, Yue's diminished strength returned to her body, being a princess meant she had never gone an hour, much less a day, without food. The warm stew filled her stomach, and she sighed with contentment when the bowl was gone.

"Your hair…" Arelle gazed at it longingly, "You could get a prince with such beautiful locks!"

"Actually," Yue smiled, "I need to get rid of it. I have some business to attend to, and I can't get it done with all this blasted hair. Would you mind cutting it off for me?"

Arelle sat up in shock, "What? But…" her expression hardened at the look in Yue's eyes, "We have some shears somewhere…I'll go get them."

The girl disappeared outside the hut, leaving Yue to herself. She sighed and let a smile creep over her face, but that vanished as soon as it had appeared. How could she fulfill her promise to the Spirits? Stop the war? That was a large task, certainly one that neared impossibility. But there was the Avatar, he was the one who was supposed to keep the balance. If she could protect him-

"I found the shears!" Arelle's perky voice interrupted Yue's thoughts, "I just can't believe that you want it all chopped off! Oh Tsuki, can I keep the clippings!"

"Of course."

The other girl squeaked in excitement, "Really! Well, you probably want to take your cloak off while I do this, it wouldn't feel good having lots of itchy hair stuck in the sleeves."

Five minutes later, after much sawing and snipping with the shears, Yue's head lifted up, finally free from the hair that she had had since a child, hair that hadn't been cut since the tender age of five.

"My head feels so light!" A modest smile on her face grew until it became a laugh, "I could get used to short hair!"

Arelle held the bundle of hair in her hands, "Spirits above! This weighs about ten pounds! I can't imagine how heavy it must have been when it was wet! My goodness, how did you ever do anything with this attached to your head?"

"I…managed," Yue silently thanked her speech instructors for the long hours of diplomacy and etiquette lessons. Her attention was drawn from her thoughts by the cloth door sweeping away, revealing two identical girls with bright eyes and brown hair.

"Oh Arelle! Who is this?" One came forwards and reached out to touch Yue's hair, "She's got such lovely hair!"

"She _has_ such lovely hair," Arelle corrected, "Fara, I told you to start thinking about your grammar!"

"There's nothin' wrong with my form of speech," Fara growled, "And who is she?"

"I'm Tsuki, from the Water Nation. Your kind sister allowed me to stay the night." Yue bowed in respect, as she would bow to an ambassador. "I hope that I won't be a bother."

"Not in the least!" the second twin stepped up and took the fine threads of Yue's cloak between her fingers, "It's so soft…incredible! I'm Shan, you can tell us apart because _I'm_ the one who's better at grammar!"

"HEY!" Fara already had the stew pot open and was serving herself, "That's not true! I just don't want to stand out like that idiot teacher that you two worship!"

"We don't worship him!" Arelle and Shan shouted at the same time, and then began to blush.

"Oh come on," Fara growled, spooning herself a bite, "You just think he's cute!"

Yue laughed as the offended two turned red in embarrassment, "Oh come now! Eat, I want to get to know you three better!"

The four girls sat around, eating and chatting about the War and telling Firebender jokes, but eventually the stew filled up their bellies and they fell into a lethargic state, dropping off into heaps of snoozing bundles, Yue among them.

Outside, the moon rose. It was a magnificent orb of light, peeping in through the tiny cracks in the wall. In her dreams, Yue saw the Moon Spirit, heard the instructions again, and dreamed of the end of the war.

* * *

Okay okay…I'm just trying this out because I was like: 'Hey, mebeh this would be a good idea for a story?' Actually, I was listening to my ipod on a long trip when this idea came up, so I had to figure out a way to bring Yue back to life and well…sorry for being random! It's just who I am… But, just FYI, Fara is pronounced "Far-uh" and Shan is "Shhahn" long "A" ppl, like the French or Japanese alphabet's 'A'. Also "Tsuki" is Japanese for "moon". I got that from Hana-Kimi. Please review people! 


	2. Conae

YAY! I love reviewers and send them my awesome oatmeal cookies, so review and get a cookie today! A side note: I am basing this story on the first season ONLY! Why? Because I'm so busy with softball that I've missed almost all of the episodes (I saw the one where Zula attacked, the one when Aang found out about why his eyes glowed, and the one with the wandering minstrels was for some reason soundless…) not to mention I missed the ALL-ZUKO episode…bangs head in wall anyhoo, here's chapter two! Giggles I made a rhyme!

* * *

Yue woke the next morning content, the morning sun bringing her senses to life after a long night's sleep. The two twins, Shan and Fara, were still snoring, but Arelle was already up and cleaning the dishes from the night before; at the same time, she began the morning meal.

"Oh Tsuki, you're awake!" Arelle's tired face rose into a smile, "Could you wake up my sisters? My hands are a little soapy at the moment…!" She continued to scrub at the caked on stewpot.

"Please Arelle, let me help, your sisters need the sleep and I need to get my blood moving," Yue begged, not wanting to burden her hosts and finally get to attempt some of the physical labor that her father had never allowed her to try. She bowed quickly and looked back up; the other girl had a strange smirk on her face.

"You…_like_ cleaning?"

"Of course…?"

"Well then…" she stepped away from the dirty dishes, "While I go gather the eggs from the coop, will you make sure that the meat patties don't burn?" Yue bowed again and then shuffled over to the hot skillet that hung over the fire; little sausage bundles popped and hissed on the cast iron surface, cooking and releasing their juices.

"Cooking…it can't be too hard…right?" Yue picked up the long, metal tongs hanging next to the skillet and flipped over the meat patties; they landed with a hiss and began to cook on the opposite side. Her eyes sparkled and she moved on to the next patty, flipping the sausage until all had been turned and the raw meat was cooking.

"Food?" A tired growl came from behind Yue, "Giff me food…"

"I get food first, I'm older…" Another growl from the other twin.

"Only by a few minutes."

"So?"

"I get food! FIRST!"

"NO!"

"Wanna take it outside?"

"WHY NOT?"

Shan and Fara stomped outside, leaving Yue to flip her patties yet again, but something was wrong, they had stopped bubbling and now had a dark brown color; were they done?

"KNOCK IT OFF YOU TWO!" The ground shook with Arelle's voice, "Now take two laps around the village or so help me, NO BREAKFAST!"

Yue peered at Arelle's figure against the light as she entered the room, "My sisters! They fight so much that the only way to get them to stop is to tire them out!" She peered onto the skillet, "Good job, I'll finish the rest, and if you really want to, you can scrub the stew pot."

_How hard can it be?_ Yue thought, taking up the hard sponge and beginning scrub at the stuck on food, but she made absolutely no progress. She dropped the sponge and raked at the mess with her nails, and a small chunk fell off into her hands. _This is going to take forever!_

With a flick of her wrist, Yue picked the sponge back up and scrubbed at the pot again, but this time there was a different feel to the scrubbing, she was scrubbing iron! It was as if the water had pulled all of the grime off of the pot.

"Now that's cool…" Arelle stood over her shoulder, "I didn't know that waterbenders could clean pots."

"A…waterbender?" Yue looked at her hands. What was it that the Ocean Spirit had said? "_We bestow this gift to you Goddess of the Moon. The water is your will, your force to control, and we Spirits will give you the ability to bend it."_ She had nearly forgotten the words after her body had been returned to the mortal world. She was a waterbender! And she would be able to control her abilities if she only had some practice and could remember the many katas, or bending stances, that the Ocean Spirit had showed her during hours of boredom in the land beyond.

"Come on Tsuki," Arelle handed Yue a plate, "Let's eat, it'll be another five minutes before Fara and Shan get back, and the food will be cold by then." She served Yue two of the sausage patties and two eggs, as well as a heaping pile of collected nuts from the forest. "They're supposed to give travelers their energy."

"Thank you so much Arelle," Yue's bow made the other girl sigh.

"There is no need for such formality, I'm just being a good person helping a traveler," she picked up a meat patty with chopsticks and took a small bite, "It's one of our people's ancestral traditions, because you never know who or why a person is traveling. I even heard that the Avatar is back, and who would want to refuse him, eh?"

Arelle peered closely at Yue, "Or…her. Are you-?"

"No," Yue sighed at the ground and looked at her now-empty plate, "But I have seen him, the Last Airbender," she giggled, "You cant mistake him! He rides around on a giant, six-legged bison that flies. That's kind of hard to miss."

"Really! So how did you meet him!"

"He came to…my homeland to seek a Master to teach him waterbending," Yue stopped suddenly, she couldn't give too much away. "What's taking your sisters so long?"

"You're right…it's been over twenty minutes since they took off, way too long." Arelle stood up and walked out the door, closely followed by Yue. "Where could those girls have gone?"

"Didn't they say something about a teacher?" Yue mused, "Maybe they ran into him."

"Of course, follow me Tsuki!"

The two girls took off, Yue weighted down by her cloak and Arelle setting a fast pace. They jumped over boulders and darted across stepping stones on a quick-moving river before arriving at a small hut in the forest.

"Conae-Sensei lives here," Yue's brow lifted at the sounds of a giggle and an annoyed sigh, "That's them."

"SHAN! FARA!" Two heads peeped out of the deerskin door, "You two are missing breakfast!"

A lean man stepped out the door, his ebony hair strongly contrasting against pale skin, and sapphire eyes matching his cobalt-blue robe. His eyes locked onto Yue's and he smiled.

"Fara, Shan…how come you didn't tell me that my sister was passing through town?"

"Sister?" Arelle and Shan's jaws dropped.

Fara laughed, "I knew there was something familiar about her!"

"Oh Tsuki, aren't you going to give your brother Conae a hug?" Yue awkwardly embraced him; Fara was right, there was something familiar about him: the blue robes, that salty smell…she glanced up and saw a small ring of pale coral hanging onto his ear. Her eyes went wide.

"Conae…" the word "ocean" in a different arrangement. Of course! The Ocean Spirit had told her that at almost any time, at least four Gods and Goddesses roamed the mortal world. A grin crept across her face.

"Tell me, has _father_ sent you anything to give to me?" Yue asked.

"Why yes…it arrived yesterday, please come in!" The four girls followed the Ocean God into his home and marveled at the massive amounts of decorations, blue and silver tapestries hung from the walls, and elaborate metal sculptures stood around the room. "Just hold on a second!"

Yue watched as he rummaged in a sack and pulled out a thick scroll, "The thing he promised you! Use it wisely and…" he reached in again and pulled out a steel fan, "This he sent for your protection." A smile ran over the Ocean God's face, lighting up his eyes. "Your destination lies to the South-West."

"Oh thank you Conae!" Yue threw her arms around her false brother, "And as soon as you can, give father my thanks."

* * *

The sun was halfway to its zenith when Yue set out to continue her journey carrying a full pack stuffed with provisions from her "brother" and the three girls she had met. The steel fan she kept in one of her robe's many pouches, and her water scroll was tightly wrapped in an oilskin to keep it from being damaged.

* * *

A/N: Okay, the next update will be probably next Tuesday due to a tournament in Virginia Beach which will not end until Monday, then it's a long drive back home and I'll probably get home late Tuesday…I think I have a game that night as well as pitching practice. Oh well, please review! Get a slice of chocolate cake! 


	3. Enter: Suki!

Okay, I've written a lot considering the time I've had! I have to leave for another tournament in 2 days, so the next chapter will probably not be posted until not the coming, but following Monday. I'm terribly sorry, but this will be my last tournament for a bit and then posts will resume on schedule.

_Flashbacks are in all italics

* * *

_

After three days of walking and no sign of civilization, Yue's small pack had thinned out and her water skin was nearly empty; she had taken to picking up the black walnuts falling from the ancient trees overhead and eating the sweet meats on the inside. By doing this, her hands had turned a deep brown color, giving her an idea for the problem posed by her hair.

When the sun reached its peak on the third day, she wandered into a small stream that branched out into small gullies and eagerly drank the sweet, fresh liquid until her thirst was flooded away. With a sigh, Yue laid back and stared at the giant puffy clouds forming in the sky; her eyelids shut slowly of their own accord…

* * *

"Ohhhhhhhh…" Yue woke to a sky filled with moon-reflecting clouds and stars peeping in between. "What a waste, I could have gotten so much more done!" She mentally kicked herself again for falling asleep and went to go get more water. Her cloak kept her warm in the slight chill and swift breeze. 

The trees' leaves whispered and hissed; the darkness had the older girl starting at every sound. Before, she had had an escort everywhere and never had to worry about protection, but now she had to protect herself. Another idea popped up. Her white hair bobbed from the bank of the stream, to her supplies resting at the base of a large tree, and back.

She unrolled the large scroll and read the first set of stances, memorizing them with her unnaturally accurate photographic memory. Slowly, Yue untied the sash at her waist and removed the cloak, hanging it with care on a large rock and out of harm's way. She stood slowly and assumed the first stance, memorizing the feelings of her body in this position, then moved on to the next stance until she had the first set committed to physical memory.

_"The key is to have all of the steps in mind before you try the movements;" the Ocean Spirit said in his voice that sounded like the depths of the sea, "that way you can flow from one to another."_

_Yue was lying out on a seal rug; she stretched out her arms into the positions of the Spirit's and mimicked the fluid wrist movements. Her hands drooped downwards, flicked upwards to form a circle with her first finger and thumb; slowly, her digits relaxed and rotated out to finish the motion._

_The Ocean Spirit grinned, "Good! You know, Avatar Kyoshi used this exact same motion, but with fans to increase the flow."_

Yue took a deep breath and slowly passed through the motions to find the rhythm of the kata, then returned to the original and sped up. Her second attempt produced no effect though, and she tried to vary the speeds of the movements. Every change produced failure. With a sigh, she flopped down onto the mossy ground and stared upwards in frustration, raising an eyebrow at the slivered moon.

"This is insane, I did what that stupid scroll told me but I still can't…" Another idea popped in her head, Yue stood quickly and caught herself on the slippery bank. She kicked off her shoes and stepped into the water, wet up to her ankles. She breathed in slowly and let the air out as she flowed through the motions, feeling the water as her medium, moving in time to the spiritual pulse of the liquid.

Again and again she passed through the form, until it felt like an old friend; then she was ready. Yue focused on the water and took the first stance, setting her arms out correctly and drawing them to her side as she stepped to the side in the second stance. The water flowed upwards to her hands in the third stance, arms and legs ready for attack; and then into her palm in the final stance, a "catching" stance with her legs bent and touching at the heels- one palm turned to the sky.

Yue sipped at the water resting in her palm and started to study the next series of stances.

* * *

Dawn rose to find a very tired Moon Goddess panting as she sat against a large rock that sat in a small stream. Yue had been practicing all night, learning, but not quite perfecting several moves; there had been the palm water move (useful when water was behind your enemy), the water-whip, the ground water kata (which could be used to extract water from wet ground), and the most difficult so far, the ice shield. 

"It's not wise to lie around streams; platypus bears are common in this area."

Yue sat up at the slightly cynical voice, "I didn't…I mean…thank you?" She looked to her left and saw another girl, about her age, carrying a set of armor. Her eyes were dark from unremoved kohl; a light scar cut her otherwise flawless face from the bridge of the nose to her right cheek.

"Forget it," The girl dropped her armor and reached into her robe for a roll of linen, "Now let me see your feet, downstream is quite bloody, and waterbenders who practice in the dark usually end up with cut heels." She dropped to the ground and examined Yue's feet. "What are you doing here, so far away from the Pole?"

"I'm…I could ask you the exact same question!"

The warrior smiled as she splashed Yue's feet with cooling water, "I'm Suki, of Kyoshi Island. I came to help the earthbenders in the war, but they sent me away because I'm a girl. So I'm seeking the Avatar; he doesn't mind having girls who fight."

Yue nodded, remembering to not use her true name, "I'm Tsuki, of the Northern Water Tribe. My father sent me here to…negotiate a treaty with the Fire Lord. Wait, you know the Avatar?"

Suki smiled, brilliant white teeth showing, "Yes, and his companions; that's why I know so much about waterbenders. The Avatar's female companion was one."

Yue hadn't gotten as well acquainted with Katara as she had her brother, and couldn't remember the girl's face that well, though she did remember the fierce soul of the southern waterbender. The white-haired girl winced slightly as the warrior tightened the bandage on her foot. 'Suki has the exact same fighting spirit.'

"How is the war going for the Earth nation?" Yue asked as the other girl sat on a nearby rock.

"Not so good," Suki said with a sigh, "The Fire Nation is so without morals that they risk huge armies—ones made up mostly of new recruits—as bait to lure us in and wear us down. It's terrible…kind of makes me feel bad for _them_."

Yue sighed, "When I was in the North Pole, a boy came after the Avatar from the Fire Nation; I believe his name was Zuko…"

A loud splash sounded; Suki had heaved a large stone into the stream, "Oh…I know him. He came to Kyoshi Island following the Avatar…halfway burned our village. If not for the Avatar he would have destroyed it all!" Suki laid back and winced as a loud rumble emerged from her stomach. "That reminds me, do you have any food?"

Yue smiled as she stood and went to retrieve her bag of supplies, "Give me one second to go get it…"

As the sun moved in its circular trek through the sky, the two girls constantly followed the moving shadow of the black walnut tree, keeping out of the bright sun. Suki stripped off her remaining armor to bathe and get the remaining grime from battle off of her, while Yue washedthe other girl'sclothes (and spares) clean with a helpful move from the water scroll.

"It feels so good to not be dirty anymore…" Suki sighed as she lied back in a niche formed by the ancient roots of the walnut tree, her face finally free from the makeup that had been plastered to her face since the tender age of eight, "but my hands will never be cleaned again, not after what they've done in battle. And my eyes are tainted red with blood from the carnage I've seen…"

Yue stared sadly at the ground, she had nothing to relate to the girl opposite to her, but since she was here, maybe another problem could be solved.

"I was wondering, Suki, if you could help me with a problem," the warrior-girl looked up from studying her palms, "But I got my head dunked in a barrel of bleach by one of the boys I knew, do you think I could get it back to its normal color?"

"Brown, right?" Suki sat up for a moment to get a better look before slumping back, "I suppose you could use anything; I know red dyes mostly, but…" she studied her hand again, "this walnut's nut shells are very dark…and they made my hand turn black," she held it up as proof, "It we could mix it into a paste we could probably dye it back."

Yue held back her smile in favor of an expression of interest; Suki could prove to be quite useful in her expedition.

* * *

Zuko kicked the giant ostrich underneath him with his soft boots, "Go faster you ugly fowl!" he growled, desperately wanting to reach a village where he would be able to trade in the 'stupid chicken' as he called it, and get a true traveling steed, like a horse or even perhaps an Elkul, a shaggy deer with two spiraling horns. Ahead he saw nothing but brush. It had been two days since he had parted ways with his uncle, even more since he and the retired General Iroh had cut their hair to symbolize their part from the Fire Nation. 

The great fowl squawked in exhaustion as it treaded onwards, its pace slowing. Zuko kicked it in annoyance; then his thoughts turned to his sister. Azula had grown very little since he had seen her last, and she wore her crown with the same flaunt. Her skills however had improved greatly. How she had managed to summon that bolt of lighting from her fingertips, her brother had yet to find out.

The ostrich leapt over a small stream, jolting the banished prince sideways, but he didn't notice the dark brown hue of the water or the soft impressions of a warrior's boot in the bank that were several hours old.

* * *

Please review, if you review, you get delicious smoothies made of your choice of fruits, syrups, and tofu! (actually, silken tofu is REALLY good in smoothies) ha…I'm a health nut…and fresh figs, frozen raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, see…reviewing is rewarding! But there's also the promise of more chapters…please review………… 


	4. Zuko Alone

Sorry about the lateness, FFnet wouldn't upload it, first due to "heavy traffic" and secondly to "processing errors". Psh.

This chapter is based loosely around _Zuko Alone_, so if you haven't seen it, there might be some spoilers but not many, because I haven't seen it either. I cant download episodes and I missed the times due to softball.

_Remember, flashbacks in italics!_

Well, I've been brainstorming a lot and the direction of this fic has become much more defined. If I didn't respond to your review, I'm truly sorry. We were gone for so long…BUT NOT ANYMORE! Softball has agreed to give me a fun summer! Ja---so this is going to be a souped up chappie!

* * *

"Okay…open your eyes!" Suki barely managed to hide back a giggle as she removed her hands from the formerly-white hair. "Go over to the river and see how you like it!" 

"If you insist!" Yue took off running and threw herself at the bank, staring at her hair…and screamed.

_"Just close your eyes," Suki growled, as she used a slightly hollowed rock and another one that was smooth and jutted perfectly out of her hand as a mortar and pestle. It still would take her a long time to grind up the walnut shells to the proper consistency; in fact, she only got through _one _of the shells. 'This'll take forever,' she thought._

_'Unless…" the Kyoshian warrior spotted a familiar plant: the Springeye. Its leaves were one of the main colorings for the famous, red eyelid-powder. Suki glanced at Yue, who had fallen asleep yet again. "What's wrong with a little fun?" she whispered evilly._

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HAIR!"

Suki feigned innocence and stuck out a quivering bottom lip, "It was too hard to grind up the walnut shells, so I did you a favor and gave you some extra shines in your hair!" Her innocent look couldn't mask the laughter in her eyes.

"Just be glad it didn't turn out as bright red as you meant," Yue growled, turning back to the river to study her hair. While it was still very much brown from the initial dye (made from the black walnut), there was an overtone of red which gave her once-ivory hair the same color as polished mahogany.

She ran her hands through her hair, biting her teeth to avoid a confrontation with Suki, something she really did not need at the moment.

"Tsuki…it's really pretty."

"Huh?" Yue hadn't been noticing the actual color, simply what it wasn't: brown. She wanted brown, but maybe this color wouldn't be so bad. It would make her stand out for sure. The sun, that had been immersed in clouds for most of the day, came out and the beams off her hair. She felt…unique again, like she had with her snow-white hair.

"I guess I like it…" Yue said with a grin, "It's better than just plain old brown…sorry!"

Suki stared at the girl for a second and then rolled her eyes, "Maybe I'll try it again when the war is over, on myself, and then we'll both have the best hair in the world. For now however--" Suki jumped up from her seated position and helped up her friend, "We have a trek to continue!"

They quickly gathered up their belongings and continued down the small path along the stream.

* * *

Zuko's head was hunched over; his steed looked exhausted from the long run and was starting to squawk from hunger. The sun was beginning to descend from the sky, which was never a good sign for a firebender, but there was a glimmer of hope, because ahead, many small wisps of smoke curled into the air before dissipating just above the tree line. 

"Just a little bit further," he muttered, both to himself and the giant fowl. The place seemed about a half mile away, and soon came into view: a small town, deserted except for the smoke. The bird barely made it to the first house before it collapsed in a pile of feathers, panting.

Rolling his eyes, Zuko dismounted and helped his steed up from the ground, whispering a few words of encouragement as it struggled to its feet. It had been relatively fat and happy before it had been taken by the fugitives, and then it was put to more work than it ever had been given before. The two rounded a corner and Zuko sighed in relief, for one last cart was still selling goods, despite the hour.

"Three bags of corn, one bag of oats, one sack of vegetables, and two apples," he said, laying the money on the counter of the cart with a sigh. The clerk took his money and slowly handed him the bags and two lovely apples. Immediately, Zuko dropped to his knees and fed the fowl a handful of corn to soothe its initial hunger.

"You from out of town, aintcha?"

"Yes."

"Best watch out then, there're some thieves that hang out around here," he looked around, spotting a small figure that was running furiously and slammed into the back of the large fowl, which squawked in indignation. "Hello Li."

"There're coming after me!" the young boy squeaked, coming around the front of the bird and crouching as his fear came closer.

"Hey shop-keep, 'ave you seen a little boy run 'round 'ere any time soon?" a large, burly man dressed in Fire Nation armor growled, obviously seeing his target shaking behind Zuko's steed. "Course…we already got one, don't need another, so we'll give you th' boy in exchange for these." He hoisted all of Zuko's just-purchased possessions and grinned widely.

Zuko growled and put a hand on his broadsword, before noticing the larger group of Fire Nation soldiers coming towards them.

"Li!" the clerk whispered, "You boy!" he pointed at Zuko, "Get him out of here!"

The young boy scrambled onto the fowl and they took off walking slowly, so as to not attract any attention from the soldiers; they quietly made their way to a small house at the other end of the town.

"Li!" The young boy threw himself from his mount and into his mother's arms, "Oh Li, I was so worried!" She looked up from her son to the strange scarred boy who was Li's savior. "And you young man, thank you for bringing him home to me; my other son hasn't come home yet either, so I've been worried sick. Would you like a place to stay the night?"

"I would truly enjoy that," Zuko said, with a short bow that was really a nod. After all, Nobility didn't bow to the commoners.

* * *

His steed was well fed and locked in the small stable for tonight, and as for Zuko himself, he was completely stuffed on Earth Kingdom home cooking. He had cleaned his plate twice and now mopped up the remaining gravy with a slice of dark peasant-bread. He leaned back and sighed, "That Miss, was delicious." 

"Why thank you young man, but it's you who we should be thanking. What can we call you?"

"Young man."

The woman sighed, but accepted his secrecy. A knock sounded on the door, and Li's father went to answer it, opening the door just a crack. "What do you want?"

"We're here to inform you," a very nasal voice hissed, "That your eldest son has been captured by the Fire Nation. He faces very much certain death. Have a nice evening!"

Laughter echoed outside the door and Li's father slowly closed it, tears forming in his eyes. "Those bastards," he growled, "those Fire Nation bastards have no right to take him for no reason!"

Zuko held back his retort. The way these people viewed the Fire Nation was incredibly different from how he viewed them. If he had known about this…those men would be gone and responsible people would be put at this station. As it was, he was powerless.

Another knock sounded on the door, but no one answered it. The visitor banged loudly. "Please open!" a desperate voice called out, "For the kiss of the fan is given by the wielder!"

Li's mother looked up in surprise. That particular code was used only by her former disipline of Kyoshi, "What would one of them be doing here?" She opened the door and saw two girls panting and holding their stomachs with hunger.

"Please spare us shelter; we were chased by some Fire Nation soldiers!"

"Come in, come in. I'm afraid we already have a guest, but maybe you travelers can go along your road together."

"Perhaps…I'm Suki and this is Tsuki. She's a waterbender from the north."

"You are both welcome in my home for the night," Li's mother said with a bow, which was returned by both Suki and Yue.

"And we thank you for your hospitality," Yue said in her soft voice. Zuko suddenly coughed very loudly, it sounded as though he was choking, but he waved away the concerned stares.

The two newcomers made their way to the table as Li was put to bed by his mother; his father was heard grieving in the next room; and Zuko's fowl let out a loud screech.

"It's not noisy here at all…is it Prince Zuko?" Suki muttered in an uninterested voice; she had recognized his scar the momentshe had walked in,"You must have done something good for these people, but so help me, if you hurt them, I will not hesitate to destroy you." Her words ended in a hiss.

"Well then, you keep my secret and I wont boil you where you stand," he growled back. The two stared icily at each other for a moment and then turned away with their noses in the air.

Yue sighed and served herself a small helping of the food still left on the table. Seeing no utensils on the table, she drew a carved ivory spoon from her robe and began to eat the stew. Suki gave herself a large helping and slurped it directly from the bowl. They both finished at the same time and tore pieces of bread to get the last bits of juice from their plates.

Suki sighed with delight, "That is the best food I've had since leaving Kyoshi Island! There really is no comparison Tsuki. And it tastes _so_ much better when eaten with a friend!" Yue grinned as she saw Zuko's eye twitch; her new friend really was good at annoying people.

At that moment however, Li's mother came in to put the food up and bank the fire, leaving them to share the dining room for a sleeping space. Yue leaned back against one of the sitting cushions, comfortable in her robe; Suki removed her armor and wrapped her warrior's cloak around her. Zuko simply leaned against a corner, waiting until the other two were asleep to doze off.

* * *

Yue woke to the sounds of crying, and winced at hearing that _sound_ so early in the morning. Suki was already up and helping to haul water from the communal well. 

"What happened?" Yue asked her friend, staring at the distressed mother, "And where's their son?"

"He went to go break his brother out," Suki sighed, "They have them both now."

"Zuko gave him his knife," Li's mother cried, "and told him to never give up! Now that boy's gone and there's no way you two alone could save him."

Suki raised an eyebrow, "I'll go find out where they're holding Li; Tsuki, go after _Him_, and make _Him_ come back."

Yue nodded, "Which direction?"

"The east path out of town," Li's mother sniffed.

Yue set off running towards the rising sun and soon found the path; she had to slow down a little on the rising hills and without her heavy cloak to weigh her down,made good time. She started to see fresh tracks and sped up, soon catching a glimpse of the banished prince in the winding road.

"ZUKO! ZUKO! COME BACK!" She screamed.

The great bird stopped and turned around, coming to face Yue.

"Li took your knife and confronted the soldiers! His mother wants you to save him!" She panted heavily, glad that she had lost the burden of the heavy hair. Zuko glared at her, and then snorted.

"Get on."

"What?"

"Get on, girls shouldn't travel alone and I won't wait for you to walk. Get on."

Yue hadn't had much experience with any type of riding animal. She had seen the Komodo Rhinos during the siege, but that was it. "How?"

Zuko rolled his eyes and stuck out his hand. Yue stared at it. "Grab my wrist and I'll pull you up." Seeing the look he got, Zuko rolled his eyes again. "I'm not completely filthy _Your Highness_."

"Don't call me that!" She growled and gripped the prince's wrist, then felt a viper-like squeeze on her own before flying through the air to land on the backside of the bird.

"Just try to hang on. If you fall off, I'm not stopping for you. HYA!" He kicked the sides of the beast and they took off at an incredible pace, Yue gripping the saddle for dear life. She had never gone this fast except for on Appa, and then there had been Sokka to hold on to. She bit her lip in sadness from the memory.

They suddenly stopped, having reached the edge of the town. Yue slammed forwards, her head knocking into the prince's. "Owwwww."

Both teens gripped their aching heads and glared at each other. "Now what?" Zuko muttered as Suki ran up to them, decked out in her warrior's armor and makeup.

"I found out where he is," Suki sighed, then glared at Zuko, "And it won't be easy to get to him, even with firebending." Yue slid off the beast and nearly fell over.

"Well, we'll just have to use unconventional methods then." Zuko growled, a malicious grin spreading over his scarred face as he tied his two broadswords around his belt.

* * *

The three used the now evening shadows to sneak around the town and get close to the army's base and prisoner compound. They had figured out that now was the best time to free Li. Suki had both of her steel, fighting fans tucked away and was using her two conventional cloth and wood ones. Yue had a canteen filled with fresh water and her steel fan from Conae, and Zuko had both of his broadswords at the ready. 

During the day, Yue had been studying her water scroll in search of the attacks and defenses her art held. She had found one very useful one that Katara had alsoused before: ice disks.

They came to the door of the compound, which was locked. Suki kneeled and used a small throwing needle to pick it; they entered cautiously, the Kyoshian warrior leading the way, fans poised and ready.

The first guard they saw was drunk and passed out, so left him and continued on. The prisoner's stalls were nearer to the entrance than the army barracks. So it took almost no time to grab the small boy and escape out the door with him; the large group of guards they met outside would not be nearly as easy to deal with as the drunken guard.

"Hang back with Li," Suki ordered as she and Zuko moved forwards. What happened next was a flash of steel and tumble of bodies being thrown by both of the warriors. Using her new experience from war, Suki ducked one of the slashes from a sword and, with a twist of her body, sent him flying into one of his own comrades. She smirked and then twisted out of the way of another attack.

Zuko was showing no mercy to the firebending soldiers, in fact, he was showing _less_ than Suki. Soldiers were spurting blood in every direction due to the skill of his blades. He eventually made his way through the soldiers and faced off against the soldier who had taken his bags of grain. That match was over quickly, as Zuko spun around and used a hard kick to break the man's right shoulder.

Behind the two fighters creating the melee, Yue and Li stood, very frightened by the confrontation, and it was very clear who was gaining the upper hand. Despite the skill of Zuko and Suki, the firebenders were much greater in number. Li cried out as Suki was hurled backwards by a blast of fire and slammed into the compound wall with a groan.

Now Yue stood up with both fear and determination. She had to defend these two people from the ones now advancing towards them; after all, Zuko was still swamped by an impressive amount of men. She ran through the water-whip technique and took her stance as she opened the canteen. When one began a firebending attack, she lashed out with her water-whip and struck him in the eyes with a crack. He fell over and started screaming.

Now Yue was petrified; she had never hurt someone in her life! But she took another stance and recalled the water back to her, forming it into an icy cylinder. Slice by slice she cut it off, flinging it at the firebenders. They tried dodging, and the waterbender nearly vomited when one of her disks cut off the hand of one of their assailants.

When most of the ice was gone, Yue recalled the water again, this time forming it into a shield around her arm. With a cry, she charged the remaining soldiers, slamming her shield into their temples and faces to break noses.

At about that point, she heard a loud cry. There was a huge burst of flame and Yue's water dissipated from the heat. More bursts of flame came from the fire fight.

"You think you can stop me! The prince of flame?" An inferno shot up into the night, "I am Prince Zuko, heir to the throne and you will not suffer to defy me!" He spat flame at the final soldier, who collapsed onto the ground, then turned around to face the grim crowd that had gathered. He was met with solemn silence.

Li's mother gathered up her son, "We tolerated you because you saved one of us, but now you must leave. Return, and you will be killed."

Zuko stuck his chin in the air and walked off, mounting his steed before taking off. The other two girls snuck away in the shadows, following the young, exiled prince on the same eastern path.

'I know you told me a different path,' Yue thought to the Ocean Spirit, 'but I know this is _my_ path.'

* * *

Okay, so I think that Zuko and Yue will have a Han Solo/Leia relationship, notice the "Your Highness" part? That might change into "Your Worship".Please review! 10 pages deserves a review I think. Comments, ideas, pillowstuffing...all welcome!AND YOU GET CAKE! 


	5. Spirits, Scars, and Suki

Bonjour mes petites choux! Je vais rentendre! (Hello my little cabbages! I have returned!) In French, being called a cabbage is a compliment, maybe that's why the crazy cabbage guy exists! Okay, so I got home a LOT later than expected, AND we got ANOTHER flat (the first was from a bungee cord, don't ask). Luckily, nice people helped us out and we didn't get wet! Huzzah!

A couple questions about the last chap:

How could Yue have caught up w/ Zuko on his ostrich horse? Uh…he was probably walking it instead of going at a fast pace…and Yue can run fast! grants Yue magical running powers

Li's mom called Zuko by his name before he told the village: Heh, my bad. Strictly a mental error. bangs head

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Okay, this chap is based around "The Chase" but I don't know what kind of machine is chasing the Gang so it's going to be one of those weird, tank looking things, okay? And there's going to be a description of Zuko's past from _Zuko Alone_ so those who didn't see the episode can understand it w/out reading the Wiki on it! I've talked too long already…erg.

* * *

It was about a mile out of town when Suki and Yue caught up with their target: Zuko. He was slouched over the ostrich horse and clearly sulking; he didn't even notice his two stalkers until they were twenty yards away.

"Why are you following me?" he growled, pulling the ostrich horse around, "I don't need the help of two little girls."

"You certainly needed it against your own soldiers," Suki muttered, pulling out her fan to cool down, "And besides, you're always looking for the Avatar, and now, so are we. So…we'll offer each other protection until we find Aang, and then…no one speaks of this _ever_ again. How does that sound to you?"

Zuko rolled his eyes, "It sounds like a stupid plan, and that's it; now stop following me!" He kicked at his steed and it started walking again, continuing down the eastern trail.

"C'mon Tsuki, let's go," the two girls continued following the prince, keeping a safe distance behind him (thirty feet kept them out of any fire blasts). The two got tired quickly though, seeing as they were both walking at a fast pace to keep up with the ambling bird.

Gradually, the sun sank from the sky and the moon rose, a beautifully milky crescent. Both parties welcomed the soft light, as neither was going to stop until the other did. Eventually though, it was the ostrich horse that decided where they were going to spend the night; it fell down in exhaustion right next to a broad river crossing.

"Great," Zuko hissed, restraining the urge to kick the bird in its resting place, "Now what? A slumber party?"

"You wish," Suki growled, "But I can find some tubers in the woods, that is, if Tsuki will catch some fish and you pull together a fire."

Yue smirked as the warrior disappeared into the forest path on her search, and removed her robe to search out, and catch, some juicy fish for them to eat. She shivered slightly at the cool touch of the water on her bare feet, and hopped along the river-rocks to the deeper water.

The fish were easy to catch once located, it took Yue's first waterbending move, the water-to-palm one, on a more complex scale: she simply had to concentrate on moving more water. It wasn't long before the first catch wriggled in her arms; a fish that was over two feet long fought its way back to freedom, stopped only by the weak arms of Yue, who struggled back to shore. The rocks seemed more slippery than they had on the journey out, and she slipped on the one closest to shore, falling into the water with her prize.

Luckily, the water wasn't deep enough for Yue to drown, but it was a difficult fight to keep the fish in her hands. Between the current and the fish, it was all she could do to get in a breath of air. Then, two hands gripped her, lifted her up, and wrenched the fish from her arms.

"Useless waterbender," Zuko muttered, examining the gaping fish, "We're going to need another one."

Yue growled and turned away, wringing out her clothes and muttering under her breath, "If I'm so useless, why do you need me to catch the fish?"

"Because I'm making the fire!" Zuko shouted, his voice echoing across the river. He glared at the red-haired girl, daring her to make a retort, to question his authority.

But Yue just sighed and returned to her stepping stone pathway in search of another fish. "Bloody firebenders," Yue muttered, looking down from her perch on a boulder and onto the water below. Her reflection caught in the water, beaming a shocking reality back to her. While her bright-red hair was very visible in the daytime, at night, with the moon out, her pure-snow eyebrows stood out like crow-owls on the icy plains of the north! "Oh Goddess, how could I have missed that?" she whispered.

She picked out another fish, this one swimming upstream, and captured it in a bubble of water; the fish's prison held until they reached shore, where it popped on the grassy banks, water seeping into the ground and, eventually, back into the river.

"There, is that one big enough?" Yue growled, throwing the three-foot fish by the tail onto the lap of a meditating Zuko, who moaned his disgust. The girl ignored his distress and grabbed her dry cloak before heading into the woods to change.

She returned several minutes later, her hands filled with sopping wet undergarments, hood low over her face as she hung the clothes up to dry. Both fish, she noticed, had been gutted, and sat skewered over the open flame, their eyes gazing lifelessly from the heat. Zuko had gone over to the water to wash off the fish slime, and rubbed his shirt on large river rocks. He returned shirtless and hung up the fishy clothing before sitting back in front of the fire, legs crossed.

"Don't interrupt my meditation," he poked the fire with a large stick, "and the hood doesn't hide your eyebrows, so you might as well take it off. The hood, not the robe, I mean." He glanced downwards into the fire, refusing to meet the girl's eyes.

Yue rolled her eyes, but slowly took off the hood, sliding the white, fur lining past her red hair. "How long until-"

"About twenty minutes. You can never be too sure about fish."

Crickets chirped, and the fire crackled merrily, but Suki still hadn't returned, "I wonder what's taking so long?" Yue wondered aloud.

"Well you and I need to have a nice chat anyways," Zuko growled. "Tsuki…nice. Ancient languages translate that into Moon, and in your language that would be-"

"Be quiet. Don't say another word about this, _ever_," Yue growled as she wrapped her robe closer around her body. Her face shifted into a pleading smile, "Please Zuko, this is extremely important."

"Yeah right, so why is it important that no one knows you were brought back to life?"

"Because…the Avatar cannot be distracted from his mission, that would mean-"

"-Victory…for _my_ people." Zuko stared solemnly into the fire, thinking about his banishment. "But even if the Avatar does succeed, the Fire Nation will only be taken over by my sister, and you don't want that. She's a ruthless, evil little bitch."

Yue broke out laughing, "That's not a very brotherly thing to say!" she giggled.

"Just wait until you meet her, you'll agree; trust me." A silence seized the camp again; the fire hissed as fish juice started dripping on the hot wood. "So why are you looking for the Avatar if you can't join him?" Yue stared at her feet. "Oh…the Water peasant boy."

A silent tear ran down Yue's face as she remembered their last embrace, theirlast kiss before the Spirit World had become blatantly clear. "Sokka."

"Tsuki!" Suki ran up, her pockets stuffed with root-vegetables, "Zuko! What did you do!" But the girl from Kyoshi was unable to get a response from either of them, and they spent the rest of the night in silence.

* * *

Yue woke up in the morning with her eyes puffy from silent sobbing; she ignored the sleeping Suki and meditating Zuko in favor of her element: the river. It would wash away all of her worries, troubles, and heartbreaks. She buried her head in the cool liquid, and the world became muted. Upon emerging, the soft twittering of birds became vivid again, as did the slow steady breathing of her male companion and the loud snores of Suki.

She walked over to the dead embers of the fire and chewed on the tail of one of the fish that hadn't been completely consumed the previous night, staring into the pink sky of morning.

"So…what are you going to do when we catch up to the Avatar?" Yue spun around; Zuko was standing directly behind her, just staring.

"I'll find my own path again."

Zuko dropped to the ground and sat, "A newly fledged waterbender all by herself in the midst of war? Good luck with that!"

Yue rolled her eyes, thinking back to the conversation last night, "So…just how bad _is_ your sister?"

"Terrible," he spat, "She's one of the most gifted firebenders of our time, and _she's_ heir to the throne now." He growled and spat flame onto the dead embers, "She can even summon lightning and she's only like fourteen now. She's a good match for my uncle, the Dragon of the West, and he's had much more experience."

"Your uncle? The man who threatened Zhao?"

"Yeah, he taught me a lot of what I know."

"I heard…stories about the Fire Nation," Yue said, turning to Zuko, "That your uncle is older than your father, but didn't inherit the throne. Why?"

Zuko stared into the small fire he had started, "It wasn't too long ago; my uncle was leading the siege against Ba Sing Se."

"But you lost that one."

"I know. My uncle's son died and he gave up the attack. When my father heard about it, he accused Uncle Iroh of being weak, and so my grandfather said: _'…like Iroh, you will know the pain of having your first-born son killed_.' My mother got really upset about that, and she told me: _'…everything I have done, I've done to protect you._'

"I never saw her again after that, but the next morning, my grandfather was dead and my father was pronounced ruler of the Fire Nation."

"And so the plot thickens," Yue muttered, remembering one of the favorite phrases of the Ocean Spirit. "And now that you're banished, you can't inherit the throne. Maybe the line will continue through the second-born now."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Zuko growled, then looked up at a very loud sound, like a beast crashing through the forest. "What's that?"

Suki looked up sleepily, "Whaaat?" A groaning of gears was heard, "I think we should get moving…fast!"

"Good idea!" Yue agreed, jumping to her feet and finding her damp clothes from the night before, but there wasn't any time to put them on. Zuko woke the ostrich horse and Suki smoothed over the campsite in a matter of minutes, just enough time for the three to flee over the river and find a hiding spot behind a large boulder.

They sat in waiting as the sounds grew closer and closer, the ground and trees alike broke under the weight of the huge machine. It appeared fearsome in the light of the morning, becoming a blood-red color from the reflecting metal. At the river, it stopped though, and four people emerged: three girls and one soldier, who hurried to fill large buckets with water. Their voices carried across the running water.

"Why is this necessary Captain? Why to we have to keep stopping at these damned rivers!"

"It we don't fill up on water, the engines will overheat and the machine will be useless highness! A slight inconvenience for the services it provides."

"Just get us moving again soon."

"That's my sister, the one talking," Zuko whispered, "she never did see to reason or maintenance."

"She seems even worse than you," Suki growled, "And that's saying a lot."

"Hey!"

"It's a compliment!"

"No it's not!"

"Shut up you two!" Yue hissed quietly; one of the female companions to the princess was staring over the river with narrowed eyes, "And get down…very, very slowly."

They all ducked behind the rock, tense from uncertainty of whether or not they had been discovered. Zuko was wrestling with the ostrich horse, keeping its beak tightly shut and restraining it from making any noises that would give them away.

"I bet they're going after the Avatar," Suki whispered, "If we followed them, then we could find Aang too!"

"But then we'd be trailing three very dangerous firebenders, one of which could kill all of us with one move," Zuko hissed back. "I don't like the idea of that."

"But otherwise, we might never find them!"

"Hmmm, find the Avatar, or live? That's a tough decision!" Zuko muttered sarcastically.

"The best plan for all of us is to follow the machine," Yue whispered, "We're going to be in danger from those three anyways, so we might as well find the Avatar to protect us when we finally do have a confrontation. We'll just have to be really sneaky tracking them."

"Alright then," Zuko whispered, "but you two have to agree to follow my commands; I know the most about Fire Nation weaponry, machinery, and my sister. We just might be able to survive." He paused, freezing at the loud creaking as the machine went into gear, burning its fuel of coal to cross the river and move forwards. "There's a back window on the machine, so someone could see us after they passed, we'll have to go around the rock at the same speed they pass us. Okay?"

Both girls nodded and crouched on their legs, watching as the great machine revved through the river, leaving huge ruts. Cold sweat beaded down the three teenagers' faces as they crept around their hiding space, staying out of sight of anyone who might be looking through the rear opening of the machine.

"It sure is noisy," Suki whispered to herself, grimacing as a small tree was crushed beneath the weight of the machine, "and destructive." The great metal tank eventually disappeared from sight and the three emerged from their hiding spots. Zuko released the ostrich horse's mouth and it let out a squawk of hunger.

"We're already falling behind," Zuko growled, "Get your last sips of water, and then we'll leave." He led his stubborn steed to the water, but it refused to drink.

* * *

Midday came, and it found two exhausted girls, one of the Earth Kingdom and the other of the Water Nation, riding a surprisingly silent ostrich horse. Beside them walked a muscular ex-prince of the Fire Nation; the heat of the sun beat down on the trio, and none spoke a word. They had long since left the original trail of stone, and now followed one composed of destruction and gutted ground.

Suki had fallen back asleep, so it was a good thing that Yue was directing the ostrich horse onwards. She ignored the weight of her companion on her back and concentrated on picking a good path for her steed through the broken trees and ground.

'Man…I wish we had Appa,' the red-headed girl thought, as an awkward hop from the giant fowl jolted her around. 'Well at least we don't have to walk.'

Of course, Zuko didn't mind walking as much as the two girls; he was used to hard labor and pushing himself. In desperate situations, he could jog at a steady pace all day. He even enjoyed the exercise to a point; as long as they could stop for a nice rest at night and a large meal, he didn't mind in the least.

"Shhhh," Yue whispered, pulling on the reins, "I cant hear the machine anymore! Suki! Wake up!"

"PAY THE PRICE FOR-!" Suki screamed, "Oh…sorry!" she whispered, seeing the faces of her companions, "Was that too loud?"

"Yes," Zuko growled, "Either they stopped for water, they found the Avatar, or they know we're following them. Let's get a little closer." So they crept onwards, all on foot, and a yawning Suki leading the ostrich horse.

Ahead was a large hill too steep for the machine to climb, and on top of it…a large white bison with six legs and horns. "Appa!" Yue exclaimed, then clapped a hand over her mouth at the second thing she saw: three mounted komodo rhinos. Their riders were Princess Azula and her companions. "Oh great."

But Appa flew off again, and the great lizards turned back towards the machine, causing the stalking trio to dive for cover and hope no one saw them, then continue after their enemies.

* * *

"How much longer?" Suki groaned, Zuko and she were now atop the large fowl, Yue walked among the destruction, "I'm getting so sick of being bumped along!"

"Then walk!" Zuko growled, tensing a little as a large tree fell to the ground ahead, knocked over by the machine they followed. "But if the machine doesn't stop, then neither will we. And there won't be a fire until we've stopped following that thing."

The moon was now directly above in the sky, slightly larger than it had been the day before, and Yue felt a strange strength in her limbs as she walked onwards, but it couldn't balance the fatigue in her muscles from a full, tense day of riding, walking, and fretting that they would be discovered at any moment. She tripped on an uprooted tree and fell face-first into the hard ground, and came up sputtering dirt.

"That doesn't taste too good," she growled, as Suki jumped down to see how she was, "I'm so sick of walking!"

"Then ride the bird with Prince Attitude," Suki growled, "If you fall asleep you won't have to listen to him blab…"

Zuko glared.

"And besides, I already slept a lot more than you."

"Thanks Su-su-suuuuuuuuki," Yue yawned, mounting the ostrich horse, eyelids drooping. They started moving again, using the light of the moon to find their way in the destructive path. The girl walking remained silent, she wasn't too tired and was used to this kind of work. Yue wasn't, and soon slumped forwards in slumber.

It wasn't _un_-enjoyable for Zuko, seeing as he was a teenage boy with a girl leaning against him; in fact, he enjoyed the ride, up to the point where Yue started to drool.

"Ewwww."

Suki rolled her eyes, "What?"

"She's drooling on me."

"If it wasn't you, this might be cute," Suki muttered thoughtfully.

"What are you implying?" Zuko growled.

"That you're ugly."

There was a silence, "You mean my scar?"

"No, I mean your blind love for the Fire Nation is hideous."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"No," Suki sighed, completely honest, "I mean, if you really feel strongly about something, you should follow your heart. My village wasn't in the war, so I left and joined in. Now I feel strongly about helping the Avatar, so I'm going to."

"The last time I felt strongly about something, I was scarred and banished from my home. Do you honestly think I'm going to go out on a whim again?"

"No, I'm saying you should think about your morals. Do you think it's right to enslave all people who weren't lucky enough to be born on the winning, the Fire Nation, side of the war."

Zuko said nothing, merely kicked the ostrich horse underneath him and picked up the pace a little bit.

* * *

Dreams buzzed in Yue's mind, images and sounds from the Spirit World, old ballads that she had looked up from ancient tomes; there were melodies that the Magma Spirit had hummed (he had a wonderful voice). He had taught her one, a song about the tides, a combination of Moon and Ocean.

"Keshite…riraito shite… imi no nai mousou mo," she murmured, returning to the Mortal World. "imi no nai mousou mo…kimi o nasu dendouryoku…zenshin zenrei o kure yo…"

"Wake up." The masculine voice penetrated her thoughts, and someone splashed Yue's face with water, "C'mon, we're heading after Azula and we'll need everyone awake."

"Uhhhh…Zuuuuuko. Shut…up. Sleep." Yue buried her body deeper into the warmth of sleep as a wet cloth went across her face. "mebaete ta kanjou kitte kuyan de...shosen tada bonyou shitte naite…kusatta kokoro o…usugitanai uso o."

"Stop singing 'Your Highness'."

Yue's eyelids flickered; she was immersed in warmth and darkness, a steadily beating darkness? She opened her eyes fully and jumped up in shock. Zuko was staring at her with a look of confusion, his shirt bearing a dark spot where her face had been.

"I…I'm sorry." She stared at the ground, face burning. "I was sleeping and dreaming of someone else…" she lied.

Zuko just stood and went to change his shirt. Yue looked around, the sun was rising, but they couldn't have gotten more than a few hours of sleep. Suki was slumped over the ostrich horse in a very awkward position, so she hadn't noticed the event that had just taken place. The girl sighed and took a very long draught of water.

About twenty feet away from the path of destruction, Zuko slowly removed his shirt and hung it up, his thoughts lost to the previous night.

_It was about three in the morning when Zuko pulled the ostrich horse to a halt, there was a very large damp spot on his shirt, drool from the girl leaning on him, and Suki wasn't much better. She was constantly stumbling over the rough ground due to the lack of light. The moon had long since gone down, and even Zuko felt the pangs of sleep._

"_Suki, we're stopping."_

"_Good," the girl growled, "I'm sick of walking."_

_Zuko just growled and dismounted, the giant bird fell to its stomach in exhaustion, letting out a final squawk before dropping to sleep. Yue rolled backwards onto the ground, hair messed and dirty, she groaned in her sleep._

"_But I cant teach him if I cant bend…" Yue whispered, "I want to go home…" her hair suddenly glowed a blinding white, "But I will play my part." The light faded and now the girl's eyebrows were the same vibrant red color as the hair on the back of her head._

"'_And so the plot thickens' indeed," Zuko muttered, picking up the girl and carrying her over to one of the few trees that hadn't been demolished. He tucked her inside the ancient roots, placed her down and turned to leave, but something caught him: a vice-like grip held him in place; Yue's eyes had snapped open._

"_Boy," a deep feminine voice said, "protect this Goddess, and you will be repaid with the thing you desire the most in your heart." The eyes narrowed, "If you do not, I will see that the elements conspire against you, and lightning will strike you down."_

"_Yes…Spirit." Zuko whispered, and the eyes closed, the hand let go. He inched away and fell to the ground. Perhaps this journey had become just a little bit too much for him._

Zuko faced the still water in the small pond, staring at the multiple scars that ran across his torso as well as his face, "The thing I desire most in my heart? My father's acceptance? My throne? My country?" He sighed, running a finger across a particularly grotesque scar, and then punched downwards in fury and flame. The reflection disappeared as the water evaporated into steam, escaping into the air.

"ZUUUKO! WE'RE LEAVING!" Suki's loud yell hit the prince like a wall; Zuko pulled his shirt on as he made his way back to the camp. "COME ON NOW! WE'VE GOT TO GO NOW! Oh, there you are!"

"Yes, and do you mind never speaking again? You voice is excruciatingly painful to listen to."

Suki growled as Yue laughed, and the two girls mounted the ostrich horse, starting it into a fast pace; behind them, a very conflicted Zuko ran.

* * *

"I thought we were following the machine." Yue watched as they left behind the ruts and followed Zuko's instinct. They were all riding a very annoyed ostrich horse now, but it bore the three's weight without complaint. "But now we're following a trail of hair."

"The bison went another way to escape; it's been shedding for a while. Azula followed the fur trail, well it's obviously faked, and wherever she goes, it's on the trail of her target. Even though I despise her, she does have good tracking skills."

"So what happens when we find them?" Suki moaned. Her legs were wrapped around the giant fowl, her fingers gripping feathers for dear life. "I don't even have my armor on!"

"So you fight without it!" Zuko hissed, gasping as they suddenly came upon the outskirts of a deserted town. "I get the feeling that we're going to find both Zula and the Avatar here…"

"Me too," Suki slid off the ostrich-horse, grabbing both of her steel fans from their respective pockets as she did so, "I'll go look around, you two keep on main street." She ran off to the right.

"Grab one of my broadswords and hand it to me Your Highness." Zuko whispered

"Fine, you ignorant man-bear-pig," Yue hissed as she handed the item over.

"What?" Zuko gripped the sword and held it at the ready, then suddenly pulled the ostrich horse to a halt, sending Yue slamming into his back. "For Spirit's sake! Hold onto the bird!"

"Well next time, tell me when we're going to stop and I might be able to!" They both dismounted, Zuko pulling his second sword from his pack as he did so. Yue flicked her steel fan open and fanned herself. "Why did we stop?"

Zuko simply pointed a finger straight ahead and started to run, closely followed by Yue. Ahead was a wall that had been almost completely destroyed, and two voices spoke in turn.

"Stop following us! Leave me and my friends alone!" The voice was young, aggressive, and male: Aang. "If I have to, I'll force you to stop!"

The next speaker sounded female, overconfident, and haughty; it had to be Princess Azula. "Do you _really_ want to fight me?"

"Yes, I do." Zuko stepped out of the shadows, glaring at his sister. He glanced once at Aang, but was focused on his sister the entire time. "You emotionless, impractical bitch; I will send you beyond the last circle of flame in the next world!"

"Well, I thought I would have a challenge…but it's just you Zuko! Stupid as usual; I guess you didn't learn to hold your tongue after all!" She smirked and sent two sudden fire blasts at each of her opponents. Yue stood in the shadows, watching the intense fight, sensibly staying out of range of the fire.

She turned as a heavy thud sounded behind her, complete with a cloud of dust and an air-bison groan.

"Be careful there! You could really get hurt being there!" A familiar, masculine speaker called out as he passed, "Get away from here!"

Yue's eyes dissolved into tears as a second figure ran by. "Sokka?"

The scrawnier figure stopped in his tracks and turned, eyes wide open in shock. "Yue!"

* * *

My hands bloody hurt…please review, that's more than 4,500 words! And the song that Yue is singing is _Erase and Rewrite _by Asian Kung Fu Generation. It's kind of like the tides on the sand…they erase…and rewrite. Never mind.

And you get Moussaka if you review! And peach cobbler!

Sincerely ArcherofDarkness

PS: Whoever catches the South Park reference get a cinnamon bun!


	6. Old Friends, New Enemies

Not much of an intro today except a quote:

**Miya**: Man I have a killer headache, what happened last night?

**Lilly**: Oh, Jane said something about Ane going to a mental institution and in the process of Ane coming forth with a rebuttal; you were hit in the head with her typewriter case.

-Pomegranate

* * *

_Yue's eyes dissolved into tears as a second figure ran by. "Sokka?"_

_The scrawnier figure stopped in his tracks and turned, eyes wide open in shock. "Yue!"_

"Is that really you Sokka!" Yue flung herself into the warm and familiar arms, suddenly falling apart. "I've missed you so much!"

On the other hand, the boy was more in shock than anything else; he stroked the girl's short, red hair with his shaking, calloused hands, pulling Yue into an embrace. "How are you here? You…died."

Yue sniffled, "Apparently, the Spirits have other ideas for what's in store for me. Why are you fighting Azula?"

"Azula? The Fire Nation Princess? Oh, she's been tracking us in that machine and Appa got hurt. Aang got mad so we're fighting, again." He sighed and breathed in Yue's scent, picking up a slightly masculine tone he hadn't detected before. "How did you find us?"

"I…ahhh…had some help."

"From who?"

"Umm…Zuko?"

"ZUKO?" Sokka gripped the girl by the shoulders, "Don't you know who he is!"

"Of course I do," Yue shook herself from the grip upon her shoulders, "I'm not stupid; I just needed a guide to find Aang." She considered Sokka's expression: a mix of disgust and concern, but then again, she had never really understood his relationship with Zuko.

"But you shouldn't be traveling with someone you can't defend yourself from! Much less a firebending prince; he must've had instruction since he was four!"

"I can defend myself!" Yue's demeanor changed, "You think that because I'm a Princess I'm weak and helpless!"

"No! I mean that even Katara loses to him, and she's a good bender. Most people don't even have a chance!" Sokka sighed and attempted to pull the girl closer to him, "Look, Yue…lets go help Katara and Aang, okay?"

The redhead nodded and both teens took off running towards the dust clouds that were sweeping over the deserted town. Sokka's head was swimming, why wasn't Yue being…Yue? And why was she even still alive? Maybe all those months of being dead had changed her, but maybe she was just acting cranky, like Katara was for a week out of _every _single month.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Yue was knocked backwards by a figure flying out of the dust.

Sokka slammed to a stop and pulled Yue up, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but…" she pointed a wavering hand at the other girl lifting herself from the ground, "Suki are you all right?"

"I guess," the warrior growled, lifting her shoulders and snapping her head to the right to hear a great cracking emerge from said joints. "Sokka? You know Tsuki?"

"Who's Tsuki?" the boy wondered, "That's Yue."

"Yue?" Suki sent a doubtful look at him, "No…" she turned to the redhead in question, "What in Spirits' names is going on here!"

Yue hesitated, "We…we need to go help Aang," she turned and hurried into the clouds of dust, disappearing from sight, and once she was tucked safely from view behind a collapsed wall, she curled up and began to sob silently. Why, just when her life had become so much simpler, did it have to become complicated again? She bit the soft cloth of her inner, lighter dress; why did Sokka have to act this way? Why couldn't he just go along with what Suki was telling him?

Or maybe this was just a bad time of the month; she had felt a little cranky all day. The girl sighed and immediately regretted it as she started to cough up the thick dust. Maybe Sokka was right-- she was too weak to be traveling with Zuko, but then again, maybe she _was_ strong enough to defend herself from the hotheaded prince. Yue opened her canteen of water and bent a little down her throat, covering up her mouth directly after to keep any dust from reentering.

* * *

"Well, I am impressed," Azula growled, covering her face with one of her sleeves, "I expected the Avatar and a waterbender, but this is unreal." She raised one eyebrow at the sight of so many opponents; most of them were easy targets alone, but when they were all together at once…she would be having a more difficult time eliminating them. "Avatar, waterbender, Kyoshian Warrior, earthbender, and two firebenders. Oh yes, I am very impressed."

Toph and Iroh had returned not five minutes ago, and since then, the tides had changed. Now it was Azula on the defense instead of offence, just trying to avoid the multiple attacks.

"What? I'm not important enough to even be _listed_?" Sokka whined, "I'll have you know, among my people I'm considered a very powerful warrior!"

Azula rolled her eyes, tilting her head slightly as she did so and picking up a very sudden movement from behind, "What the-"

"You shouldn't talk so much highness," Yue growled, pinning the girl's arms behind her head, "It leaves you exposed."

"Whatever." A blistering heat built up inside the firebender, but because her arms were bent towards the sky, only a show of fireworks was released. "Girl, you are seriously pissing me off right now, so I am ordering you to let go of me!"

Yue grinned, unseen by the other girl, "Order…_me_? We are not so different then." She shifted her stance; the canteen around her waist was still open, and as she pushed the Fire Nation Princess,she pulled out all of her remaining water and bent it into ice shards heading directly for Azula's eyes.

She ducked, just barely managing to spare her eyes from being burst, but one of the shards ripped a bloody scar that cut along her cheekbone from the outer tip of her right eye to her hairline. "You…scarred me?" Azula's eyes contorted to pure fury and flames began to leak out of her mouth, "FOR THAT YOU WILL DIE!" She spewed flame out as she screamed.

Had Yue's hair been its original length, she surely would have caught fire, but instead, the girl weaved out of the anger-induced burst easily.

"PRINCESS AZULA!" Iroh roared, sparing Yue from a very fiery death, "You are outnumbered and will surely die if you continue to attack!"

Azula lowered her arms and backed away so that she could see the entire group that she been fighting, "I suppose you are right," she held her hands above her head, "So I will go about my way if you-"

"UNCLE!"

Zuko watched in horro as a slyly fired flame sped toward Iroh, moving so fast that even the Dragon of the West couldn't stop it. He let out a yell as he unleashed his own attack on his sister, not noticing the other three who were doing the same: Katara with her waterbending, Toph with her earthbending, and Aang with his airbending. He poured his eternal hatred for his sister into the attack, fighting back a snarl as Azula created a shield for herself and then vanished.

"_He's_ the guy who acts like _me_?" Toph muttered; her blank eyes stared forwards as she sensed the vibrations of the heavy, desperate footsteps belonging to Zuko, as he ran to the elder man's side.

"How could she knock _you _unconscious uncle?" Zuko whispered, glancing out of the side of his eye as the Avatar's friends began to come closer, "GET BACK!" he threw a wave of fire at the encroachers.

Toph looked conflicted, and winced at the familiar voice that was moaning.

&&

_The young girl kicked at the ground, sending a wave of rock and dirt through the forest, "Stupid Katara, stupid flying bison, stupid everything," she growled. Toph stopped suddenly, feeling the heavy plod of an older person ahead. She stuck her chin high and kept walking. _

_It wasn't long before she caught up with the old man, but he seemed to be walking briskly for his age, and he was singing. Something about the seasons and four loves, but that was a song that everyone knew, an old ballad. _

"_Excuse me young lady, would you mind helping me with my pack?" he asked in a slightly whimpering voice, "I don't need much help, just enough to get me to the next mountain," he pointed ahead, "It's about a mile," he added. _

"_Fine," she reached her hands out and nearly fell over taking the insanely heavy pack, "Agh! What do you keep in this thing?"_

"_Tea, lots and lots of tea. What is your favorite flavor miss?"_

_Toph shouldered the pack with a little difficulty, "I guess I like Mint."_

"_Ah, a good choice. A light delicate flavor that is terrific during the summer months." The old man smiled broadly, "Though I think you would enjoy Jasmine as well."_

"_Sure, whatever," Toph rolled her milky-white eyes as they plodded onwards, listening to the old man babble on about the similarities of Mint and Jasmine tea, adding in the subtle delicacies of Chamomile. Still, it was more fun than arguing with Katara, who always had to be right._

"_-so you agree then, White tea is best for health?"_

"_Yeah..."_

"_Well then, I will stop here. Would you care to join me for some tea?"_

_Toph shrugged, "I don't have anything better to do." She carefully set down the heavy pack, "Are you sure that that thing's only filled with tea?"_

"_And the makings of tea, I have to bring the water and the kettle as well, and a back-up kettle in case the first breaks."_

"_Makes sense," she bent two seats and a platform for the tea from the ground, making sure they were flat. "So what kind are we having?"_

_The old man placed two sticks on the ground and leaned over to light them, "I was thinking a nice herbal tea, Echinacea perhaps. "And the trick to an absolutely delicious cup of tea is…" he peered around the deserted forestfor any person who might be out to steal his secrets, "…dried fruits!"_

_The earthbender held back a snicker as the kettle of water was placed over the fire, "It's hot enough already?"_

"_I have a secret with getting water to boil," the old man laughed as he measured out some dried leaves into two cups, followed by a slice of dried orange. _

"_What's an old man like you doing out here?"_

"_Looking." He sighed, smiled, and prodded the fire, "Ah, the water's boiling."_

"_Maybe you do have a way with water…are you a waterbender?"_

"_Similar to, but different from." He poured the boiling water into both prepared cups. "Here."_

_Toph growled, "Do you think I can't take care of myself? Because I'm blind I can't pour my own tea?"_

"_Why would I think that?" the old man wondered, pulling on his beard, "I simply poured it for you because I wanted to, no other reason." The girl stared at her tea doubtfully. "You know, you sound like my nephew, always thinking you need to do things by yourself, on your own, and without anyone's support._ _There is nothing _wrong_ with letting people who love you help you. Not that I love you, I just met you.__"_

_She laughed, that sounded exactly like her, but it was nice to know that it wasn't _just_ her that thought that way. "So where is your nephew?"_

"_I've been tracking him actually."_

"_Is he lost?"_

_The old man began to laugh, "Yes. A little bit. His life has recently changed and he's going through difficult times," his eyes softened a little bit, "He's trying to figure out who he is and went away."_

"_So…now you're following him."_

"_I know that he doesn't want me around right now, but if he needs me, I'll be there."_

_Toph smiled again and drank in the tea, "You're right, the dried fruit does make it better."_

_&&  
_

"LEAVE!" Zuko yelled again, throwing another burst of fire out. Toph sighed, but followed the others out of the deserted town.

* * *

They had left behind the town for the forest, and the group was larger than it had ever been! Appa stared at the group with a doubtful eye, instead of three, or even four, here were six! Toph had returned, and Yue and Suki were joining up now. They were going to have trouble scraping food together, and Katara was considering diving up the team so that half would go by water and half would go by air, in order to lessen the load.

"Long day," Suki growled, staring into the fire, "I don't think I've gotten a full night's rest in a year."

"Well, maybe we'll be able to sleep in tomorrow," Yue sighed, "I never got this little sleep ever before in my life." She stood and headed over towards Appa, missing her cloak that had been left behind on the ostrich horse. "Mind being my pillow tonight buddy?" she yawned, lying between the bison's first two feet.

* * *

Okay, a little tough starting out, but it fell into order. Shorter than last week, but oh well. Next update Monday! Wish me luck in a Myrtle Beach tournament! Please Review!

-Aod


	7. Just a little teen angst and love

I really must apologize! My last update was at least 3 months ago. School came up (I'm taking 2 College Credit classes (AP Calculus and AP Statistics) and 2 mandatory college credit prep classes (AP Biology and AP Language and Composition) meaning I have very little time. But I got a review today, and seeing as I had nothing better to do, I sat down and wrote the majority of the chapter (there was an intro already written). The teen angst is all in this chapter, and the fluff begins next, I've got tons of inspiration for it thanks to my BF. chuckles nervously But enough about me! Here's the next chapter!

BTW, it might be a good idea to reread the last chapter since I took so long to publish….

* * *

The brilliantly bright rays of the Sun stretched into the predawn hue of deep azure, burning away the little fog that had accumulated over the night. The only one who had spent the night restless and awake was a bright-eyed little lemur by the name of Momo, who was currently peering into the sleeping face of his master. "It's too early…" an exhausted Aang growled, waving the small creature away before turning on his side to slip back into sleep.

Unwilling to give up, Momo leapt off his perch and took flight only to land on the giant head of his fellow creature companion, Appa, but he was also unwilling to wake. The lemur crept around the large skull, found the floppy ears, and lifted one cautiously up before letting out a squeal directly in it. He was rewarded with a quick shake that sent him flying into Katara. She moaned and saw the sun before grudgingly getting up.

Despite the fact that she had been the one in the group to work hardest yesterday, the waterbender let the others sleep while she prepared the camp, starting a fire and finding the dwindling food supply that would only feed the growing group for a few more days.

* * *

At the other camp in the area, a groaning Iroh sat up having felt the rising energy in his veins from the Sun. He stretched, smiling before putting a hand to an aching head; he looked around and spotted his nephew, exhausted from the previous day's battle. It seemed as though he had attempted to keep watch over his unconscious uncle for as long as possible before succumbing to the seduction of sleep.

"Prince Zuko? Are you alright?" The boy's head snapped up at the voice.

"Uncle?! You're not hurt, are you?"

"No…what happened yesterday? I feel like I drank a gallon of Sake last night…"

Zuko looked up toward the sky through the destroyed ceiling of the partly demolished house he had transported his uncle to after the fight. "Azula made a cheap shot…and then she got away. Uncle! I'm going to have to fight her again, so will you teach me the more advanced techniques of firebending so that I can defeat her?"

Iroh was surprised by the determination and desperation in his nephew's voice, as well as a new wisdom in his golden eyes, perhaps gained during their separation? "Yes."

* * *

Meanwhile, Katara had roused most of the camp, leaving her brother and Appa asleep, since she was incapable of waking either without an army of firebenders. Suki had proved quite helpful but was strangely silent, lost in thought. Toph had gone in search of nuts and berries in the growing light.

Katara stroked the fire, pushing the larger logs towards the center of the flames, stealing glances at Yue, sitting near her. "So…what's going on?"

The redhead sent her a bland stare before turning away, "Nothing. Just trying to remember a dream." That was the truth; she had had a dream about the Moon Spirit and it seemed impossible to grasp the escaping visions. Actually, those dreams were starting to feel as though they weren't hers, but instead were implanted into her brain.

"Ah, was it a weird one?"

"I don't know…" Yue had never been social in the morning, and quickly dropped the line of conversation. Her thoughts turned to the handsome Fire Nation Prince, or ex-prince, that didn't change his skill level. "What do you think of Zuko?"

"He's a hotheaded prince who needs to learn some manners," Katara growled, "Why?"

"No reason." Yue listened as the other girl speared some meats and stuck them over the fire--breakfast. The hiss of cooking meat made Yue's eyes sparkle, exactly like her experience with the Earth peasants. "I love food!" she sighed.

"Alright then…" Katara muttered, poking the embers with a long stick, trying to tune the other girl out. She wasn't sure if she really trusted the princess; after all, she had come back from the spirit world and been traveling with Zuko.

A brush of cool wind made the redhead start, and she pulled her thin dress around her body. If only she had her nice cloak to keep her warm, but that was with Zuko, and it had already been blatantly stated that he was the enemy, not to be trusted in the least. Yue stifled a sigh and bid a silent farewell to her former companion.

"There wasn't much in the forest," Toph growled as she sat down by the fire, handing over her findings, mostly nuts that smelled terrific. "Still, it's the best I could do."

"Good job," Katara took the nuts and put them in the embers to toast, then removed the meat and handed a piece to everyone, "Hey, where's Aang?"

Yue took a bite of her meat, "I think he went to find a spring to bathe in." She shivered; it was a wonder that an element, seeming so sweet and gentle, could turn into a pile of ice spears capable of killing. There was a niggling little thought in her mind, something telling her to just pick up and leave, but she ignored it for the time being; she planned on facing it later.

A heavy hand suddenly rested on Yue's shoulder, "Why didn't you tell me there was food?" Sokka growled sleepily, and he dropped to lean on Yue, "I'm starving…"

"You eat too much," Toph muttered, staring with her unnerving eyes at the fire, "Leave a little for the rest of us."

Yue suddenly felt _very_ uncomfortable with Sokka's weight; there was some strange vibration in her mind telling her that Toph sincerely hated her right now. She liked Sokka? And it was more than that, Yue simply didn't feel right with the Water Tribe warrior; where his skin rubbed against hers felt rough and awkward. An image suddenly flashed the redhead's mind: _she was being pulled out of the water by two strong hands--refusing to give up the fish, and two sarcastic, but smiling, amber eyes were staring directly at her. _

Moving so quickly that Sokka fell onto the ground in her haste, Yue stood. "I'm going to go clean up as well, don't wait to eat. I'm going to take a nice long bath." Katara didn't even look up but nodded slightly, and Yue felt a questioning glance from Sokka. Toph simply ran her hands through the earth.  
She started at a walk from the clearing to the wood, which became brisker until it was an all-out sprint, a pace that Yue couldn't keep for long at all. She leaned against a tree once she was deep inside the forest, wanting to slap herself, wanting to die because of something, something that was just pulling at her gut. Tears fell silently from the corners of her eyes, "What is _wrong_ with me?" She whispered.

Had Sokka followed her, had a branch fallen from the massive trees all around, she would have turned around and continued with the Avatar. Instead, her sign was a deep grumble of thunder from grey skies above. The girl let out a cry and fled deeper into the forest, not caring that she had become hopelessly lost.

* * *

Calves aching, Zuko trudged up the mountain. It had gotten significantly colder and he felt a chill; he let out a breath of fire and the feeling vanished. Why did his uncle have to be so difficult? Why couldn't he just strike his nephew with lightning so the teen could learn to channel the energy?

'_There is energy all around us. The energy is both yin and yang -- positive energy and a negative energy. Only a select few Firebenders can separate these energies. This creates an imbalance. The energy wants to restore balance, and in the moment the positive and negative energy come crashing back together, you provide release and guidance, creating lightning.'_

Iroh was good with words, but the whole technique seemed impossible. Zuko continued to climb, feeling the wind beat through his clothes. There was static in the air-a bolt of lightning shot past the mountainside, and the rain began to beat down on the firebender as he finally reached the pinnacle.

Now was the best time for lightning strikes, and this was the best spot for being hit. Zuko's eyes scanned the sky eagerly, watching as several bolts lit up the dark sky. Every time one appeared, he tensed, ready to channel the energy. He was ready. But slowly, the frequency of the strikes slowed and the rains began--drenching his clothes and blurring the clouds above.

The sudden chill was swept away by a burst of fire and anger that leapt from Zuko's mouth with such vigor that a small tree caught fire before being put out by the downpour. "COME ON! You've always thrown everything you could at me! Well I can take it, and now I can give it back! Come on! STRIKE ME! You've never held back before!!!" He stared upwards for several more seconds before a large drop landed in his eyes.

An unfamiliar cry burst from the boy's throat. The pain of his exile finally caught up, and Zuko fell onto the ground. His unscarred eye blurred from salty tears that poured down over his cheek and dripped onto the saturated ground. He wanted his mother, he wanted his uncle, he wanted someone to just hold him and tell him everything was alright. His strength was gone, and slowly, his anger seeped out, leaving the teen fallen upon the cold mountain, completely defeated.

* * *

Yue sniffed as she wandered the incline, wondering just where she had come to. She missed her warm cloak, missed her immortal bliss, and suddenly feared the death of hypothermia. She had to keep moving, that much was clear; growing up in a cold climate meant she knew that much. To stop meant death. Her eyes traveled to the sky; it seemed to be weeping for her.

She slowly continued on, trying to ignore the fierce wind now whipping her rain-soaked skin, it grew stronger as she made her way closer to the top of the mountain. Something had told her to come this way; the water was inexplicably _pulling_ her this way like the moon pulled the tides.

She dropped her head, and Yue pieced a figure together through the driving rain: Zuko. He was lying on the ground, seemingly motionless. She ran towards him with the dregs of her energy. One of ther hands slid over his wrist—it was cold, like ice, certainly not the normal firebender temperature. She fell to the ground beside him and turned him over; his eyes were puffy and a shiver ran through his body like a shockwave.

"Zuko! Wake up! We have to get off of this mountain; it's too cold!"

His eyelids flickered before dull, defeated amber eyes met hers. "Why?"

The question didn't wonder why they had to get to lower ground, it asked _why_ things were the way they were; it was the eternal question, the one that was philosophized about by every person in the world. Yue doubted there was an answer. "I don't know. But I do now we aren't meant to die here, not now."

Zuko tried to regain his demeanor, but failed, and suddenly felt the cold that wracked his body. He stood shakily with Yue's help, and the two helped each other down the mountain. They gradually reached an ancient tree with a hollowed niche in its trunk. The movement had warmed Zuko up considerably, but Yue was still freezing. They huddled inside the shelter, and Yue threw off her modesty for the warmth that radiated off her companion. The comforting heat and trying day eventually put her to sleep.

* * *

Dawn broke; the sun showed its first rays over the horizon. Across the forest, an assortment of creatures began calling, wandering from their hiding spots that had sheltered them from the storm. And being so tied into the sun's cycle himself, Zuko also woke.

He hadn't realized that he had dozed off. But felt more tired than he had ever been. Zuko sighed and almost pushed the weight off of his chest but stopped—taken aback for a second at Yue, who had a firm grip on his tunic and was lying heavily on his chest. Her dyed hair covered most of her face, but a single white eyebrow still showed through.

She was a princess who understood the royal burden: conforming her life to what was expected only to find she was unhappier than she could stand. But she had died for her people, and he, he had been banished, become a laughingstock to the entire nation.

Yue stirred a bit and loosened her grip, turned over, and opened her pristine, blue eyes to a fresh dawn. Her eyes met Zuko's before shutting; a badly hidden smile showed clearly across her face. Suddenly, the world was a brighter place.

* * *

Right now, I'm going to let these kids just act their age. They're royalty that never got the chance to do that. Kudos to Wikipedia for the quotes from "Bitter Work".

Please review!


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